Sugar Cone

Summer simply yearns for picnics.

Even if some days all that means is loading a cooler (instead of a basket) full of ice and any reasonable leftovers you can find. Even if it means you use your beach towels instead of a pretty picnic blanket.

Even if it means you have to stop for plastic knives and a fresh jar of peanut butter because you always seem to forget to pack something despite your best intentions. Summer simply craves picnics, and we are more than willing to oblige.

You know how people always say "time flies" and "childhood goes by so quickly" and "they'll be grown before you know it"? And of course when you're a new mom dealing with sleepless nights and toddler tantrums and runny noses and millions of diapers, you really don't quite fully understand what these sentiments mean, not really. I sure didn't.

Not until she started growing up. Like, really growing up and then it hit me hard, and every night I ask if maybe she could just stop doing it for a little while, maybe stop growing for a few days, just hit the pause button for a brief spell. She laughs and rolls playful eyes and hugs me a little tighter because she's still so sweet and lovely.

But she doesn't stop, and there is no pause button and here we are 12 years after she came into the world, my first child, my first girl, and all of those chorused cliches now make perfect sense to me.

In a heart wrenching sort of way.

Good thing ice cream heals most wrenches.

These two left this morning for a week long vacation with their grandparents.

(look who finally lost that stubborn tooth!)

Nothing says "I love you and I'll miss you".....

......quite like a sugar cone.

So I am home today with three littles, trying to prepare for this weekend's camping trip. We're heading up north to Bill and Jill's for a few days and I am getting super excited! Camp fires and tiki torches and starry nights and thick woods and sharing it all with loved ones, well, what could be better?